K A S H R U T . C O M_©

August 25, 2024 from Harvard Crimson:

"Harvard University Dining Services will expand its kosher food options after a decades-long effort to introduce hot kosher lunches in undergraduate dining halls covered by the College’s undergraduate meal plan.

"HUDS will now offer students hot kosher meals for lunch and dinner six days a week at Harvard Hillel’s dining hall and two undergraduate dining halls — Annenberg Hall and Pforzheimer House. All three locations will have cold kosher offerings for lunch and dinner on Saturdays — the only day when hot options won’t be provided.

"The expansion, which implements one of the preliminary recommendations released by the presidential task force on antisemitism, comes as Harvard seeks to demonstrate its commitment to addressing campus antisemitism.

"Harvard Hillel Executive Director Jason B. Rubenstein ’04 wrote in a statement on Friday that he had been advocating for the expansion since he was an undergraduate at Harvard more than 20 years ago.

"The food offered at all three locations will be prepared under the supervision of a mashgiach from Boston’s rabbinical council (KVH), a supervisor who must oversee the preparation of food to certify that it is kosher.

"The food at Hillel will also be served under the supervision of a mashgiach, but the offerings at Annenberg and Pforzheimer will be offered to students for self-service, without mashgiach oversight.

"Though the lack of mashgiach will deter some students who follow strict kosher standards, former Hillel President Jacob M. Miller ’25 said the expansion of kosher food options to undergraduate dining halls is a “big win” for non-Orthodox Jewish students who will only eat kosher meat.

"The kosher menu will feature meat and parve options five days a week. On Thursdays, students who keep kosher will be offered dairy and fish entrées.

"Before the change, Jewish students who kept kosher could only eat hot meals at Hillel’s dining hall during dinner. While HUDS previously piloted a hot kosher lunch option in Quincy House in fall 2021, lunch offerings were usually limited to cold sandwiches or packaged and reheated leftovers. And none of the dining halls where most students eat their meals — Annenberg and the upperclassmen Houses — offered hot kosher options.

"The main constraint that prevented the addition of hot kosher options during lunch was limited storage in Hillel’s facilities, which were already “stretched thin” by storing the food needed for dinner service, according to Miller.

"Though the expansion of kosher food options was announced on social media by Hillel without much fanfare, it is one of the first major changes made by the University in response to the recommendations released by the antisemitism task force."

Kosher Dining & Halal Dining at Harvard College

Kosher Guide to Harvard Dining Halls